WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Everyone is invited to attend groundbreaking ceremonies for Missouri State University-West Plains’ new multipurpose student recreation center/emergency shelter at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 2, at the center’s building site near the corner of Garfield Avenue and West Trish Knight Street.

The facility, which will be approximately 10,000 square feet, will be designed to serve as a combination emergency shelter and student recreation center, university officials said.  “There is no available tornado-safe shelter for the students, faculty, staff, residents and business workers who are within a five-minute radius of this location,” Chancellor Drew Bennett said.  “This project will provide the needed shelter on a 24-hour basis and reduce injury and loss of life in the event of a tornado by providing accessibility to a shelter.”

In addition to serving as a shelter, the building will house a gymnasium for basketball and volleyball and a separate racquetball court.  It also will be ideal for a host of student-related activities and events, such as meetings and banquets, university officials said.

Over half of the project’s $2,221,114 cost is being funded with a $1,320,149 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The remaining $900,965 is being funded with a 25-year auxiliary bond (loan) that will be paid with funds generated from a student-approved $25 fee.  Any additional income generated by the fee above the bond payment will be used for student employees, custodial staff, utilities, operating expenses, equipment and other needs of the facility, university officials said.

The building, which will be just west of the basketball courts near the Grizzly House residence hall, is expected to be completed in fall 2011.

For more information about the project, contact Matt Morris, director of business and support services, at 417-255-7260.  For more information about Missouri State-West Plains, visit the university’s website, www.wp.missouristate.edu.